Pasadena, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 08/18/2011 -- Top law schools have pushed big law firms to recruit in August. Because of the growing pressure to help students with heavy debts to get jobs, a lot of interviews for careers at law firms are taking place now.

Law schools are hoping to give their students an edge in the struggle by forcing the big firms to recruit in August, months earlier than in previous years.

Only about a section of last year's graduating students got recruited with big law firms. As stated by the National Association for Law Placement, it has been down from 33% in 2009.

Recruitment by major law firms bumped in 2007 prior to the beginning of the financial crisis. Hiring has crashed drastically due to the recession as well as more enduring changes to the industry.

Only 7 law schools in 2000 conducted the recruiting process in August. The figure rose to more than 70 by 2009, and this year it is expected to peak 100, as reported by Mark Weber, assistant dean for career services at Harvard Law School.

Quite a lot of major law firms are preparing to increase the size of their 2012 summer associate classes. While, Bingham McCutchen LLP has plans to employ almost 29% more students than the previous year. Skadden intends to enlarge its 2012 summer associate class by more than 66% to at least 150.

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